Frederick Kovar

Fredrick Kovar, a 52-year resident of Walnut Creek, died March 2 following a brief illness.

He was born Sept. 20, 1933 in Cleveland, Ohio. The first in his family to graduate from high school, he went on to graduate from John Carroll University and earned a Ph.D in physics from Washington University where he met and married Margaret (Peg) Kovar in 1962.

Kovar served in the Army for eight years as an officer. He went on to have a successful 30-year career at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory as a nuclear physicist and also served as an advisor to the secretary of Defense in the 1980s.

 Preceded in death by his wife of 48 years, he is survived by his four children, Kathleen Pease, Karen Kovar, Rick Kovar and Christine Kovar; and four grandchildren, Brendan, Angela, Ben and Maggie.

He truly enjoyed his family and friends. Interests included tennis, travel, golf, bridge, bonsai and iris gardening and the outdoors. He also kept active with his Sons in Retirement (SIRs) group.

A memorial mass will be held at St. John Vianney Church in Walnut Creek on April 17  at 10:30 a.m.

Donations may be made in his honor to: Save Mt. Diablo, 1901 Olympic Blvd #320, Walnut Creek, 94596 or Kennedy King Memorial Scholarship fund, P.O. Box 2643, Martinez, California 94553.